Peanut cleaner



. Iune 13, 1939. N. B. SOLOMON, JR., ET AL 2,162,392 A VPMNUT CLEANERFiled Maron 9, 19:58y

./wcHoLns Spun/10M we L n nsw/wf /m ARTER V id(Ittomegs Patented June13, 1939 UNITED STATES PEANUT CLEANER;

Nicholas B. Solomon, Jr., and Dannie M.' Carter, Blakely, Ga.

' Application March 9, 193s, serial No. 194,748

6 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for cleaning peanuts and the like asthey are gathered from the fields, and which contain a considerableproportion of stones, as well as sticks, parts of vines, and other lighttrash which must be separated as much as possible from the nuts beforethey are further processed. The stones are especially troublesome inthat the larger ones cause breakage of the sheller parts and the smallerones ind their way into the iinished product,

which is very objectionable. The light trash and dirt must be separatedfrom the nuts for obvious reasons.

It is accordingly a principal object of our inventionl to provideapparatus `effective to separate out stones, stray iron, and objects ofgreater specific gravity than the peanuts, by means of an air blastacting on a stream of peanuts upwardly and transversely thereof, wherebythe heavier particles fallout of the stream by gravity, and the lightertrash is carried ofi with the air blast.

A further object of our invention is to provide a cleaning apparatusembodying a cleaner hous- `V ing, with air blast means to create a whirlof peanuts being cleaned therein, with an upper outlet for light trash,a lower outlet for cleaned nuts, and means ahead of the housing toseparate out stones and heavier particles.

" A still further object of our invention is to provide apparatus of thecharacter designated which shall be simple and economical ofconstruction and operation and which shall beV effective to rid thepeanuts ofstones and other l heavy particles, as well as light trash.

Apparatus embodying features of our invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing forming a part of this application, in which Fig. 1is a vertical sectional view of our improved apparatus; and Y Fig. 2 isa plan view of the same.

Referring to the drawing for a better understanding of our invention, weshow a substantially rectangular housing I0 having `an outlet II forair, dirt, and light trash extending across the upper part along oneside. Beneath and near the outlet and extending horizontally, part wayacross the housing IIJ from the wall of the housing most distant fromthe blower is a baille I2. Screened side openings I3 are covered withadjustable doors I4 and may be employed to regulate the strength of airflow through the outlet II. As will be seen, the inner .edge of thebaffle I2 is spaced a substantial distance from its adjacent wall'toprovide a passage -for outflowing air having an area which is neversmaller than the inlet.

The bottom of the housing I0 is comprised of a oor I6 hinged at I1 tothe side of the housing beneath the outlet I I and sloping downwardlytoward the opposite side. The slope of the floor It' may be adjusted bymeans oi a hand operated screw I8. Positioned at the lower side of thefloor I6 is ascrew conveyor assembly I9 for removing cleaned peanutsfrom the housl0 ing through an outlet 2l.

Opening into the housing III adjacent the low side of the oor I6 is anupwardly inclined flue 22 which` extends entirely across the housing.The ilue 22 may be constructed of any suitable 15 materials, as will beapparent. A blower 23, driven by any suitable means, such as a motor2lil discharges a blast of air into the flue 22 'and upwardly throughthe flue and the housing I8. A feed hopper 26 is provided above the flueand 20 has disposed therein means, such as a rotary feeder 2'I, to feeda regulated supply of peanuts downwardly into the flue 22. Disposedwithin the flue 22, beneath the feed supply of peanuts, is an inclinedbaffle 28 so disposed that peanuts `25 being fed into the flue falltoward the Windward side of 'the bale. There they are caught by the airblast, the peanuts are lifted over the baiiie, as shown, while thestones, stray iron, and such heavy material, fall downwardly behind thebaf- 30 fle 28, through an opening 29 in the bottom of theilue 22, intoa rock trap 3l. The height of the baffle member 28 in the flue 22 can beadjusted by means of bolts 32 passing through a suitable baiiie support34 and through slotted `35 openings 36 in the baille. We have found thatthe higher the proportion of heavy material to be separated from thenuts, the higher the baffle 28 should be raised in the fiue 22.

' As will be seen in the drawing, the rock trap 40 3| is spaced asubstantial distance from the baffle 28, and the floor of the flue 22adjacent the bale 28 extends toward the blower a short distance forminga ledge 30 which makes an obtuse angle with the baie. This is importantinas 4'45 much as any peanuts which may fall behind the baffle 28 do notfall out of the air blast directly into the rock trap, but their fall isarrested by the ledge where they are caught by the air blast and carriedover the baflles. f5() Extending across the housing I0 at the entranceof the flue 22 into the housing is a plate 31, the height of which maybe adjusted by means of bolts 38 extending through slotted openings 39in thelowerV part vof the housing. The func- 55 tion of this plate is toregulate the ilow of air with its burden of peanuts to be cleaned intothe housing Il). As the air and peanuts enter the housing, the heaviernuts fall downwardly into the conveyor assembly I 9, and are carried outof the housing, whereas the lighter nuts and trash are blown across thehousing up along the inclined floor I6 and against the opposite wall ofthe housing, from whence they are carried upwardly and the peanuts areturned by the bafile I2 to fall downwardly in the comparatively stillair along the front wall of the housing into the conveyor assembly. Thewhirling, scrubbing action of the nuts against the oor and walls of thehousing I0, frees the nuts of all light trash, sticks, vines and thelike, so that the latter are carried out with the air blast through theoutlet II. If nuts are found to be passing out with the light trash, thecovers I4 over the openings I3 may be opened somewhat to reduce theforce of the blast through the outlet II. If stones are found beingdischarged with the peanuts by the conveyor assembly I9, the plates 31,as well as the baille 28, and floor I6, are adjusted to give amorerestricted flow of air through the apparatus, the plate 31 beingmoved downwardly and the baille 28 upwardly to accomplish this purpose.By observing the product and making the necessary adjustments, athorough cleaned product may be obtained.

Access to the interior of the housing for cleaning purposes is hadthrough a removable door 4I in the front wall of the housing I0. Also,we have found that choking of the apparatus is greatly minimized byproviding a curved wall 22 in the upper part of the housing opposite theoutlet II.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that we have devised an improvedcleaner for peanuts as they come from the fields, which is simple andeconomical of construction, and which is effective to remove the stones,dirt and light trash from the peanuts, rendering them ready for furtherprocessing.

While we have shown our invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications, without departing from the spiritthereof, and we desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specificallyset forth in the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a peanut cleaner, a means defining an upwardly inclined passage, ablower connected to the lower end of the passage, a baffle member in thepassage extending transversely thereof at an acute angle in thedirection of air flow, means to feed peanuts into the passage on thewindward side of the baille member, a rock trap between the blower andthe baille member and disposed a substantial distance from the latter, achamber into the lower part oi which the said passage opens, a bailleextending horizontally from the wall of the chamber distant with respectto the blower part way across the upper part of the chamber, an outletfor air and light trash in the upper end of the chamber beyond thebaffle and on the side of the chamber distant from the blower, and aconveyor for cleaned peanuts in the bottom of the chamber.

2. In a peanut "cleaner, a housing, an opening across the bottom of thehousing, means dening an upwardly inclined passage connected to theopening, a blower connected to the lower end of the passage, means tofeed peanuts downwardly into the passage, a baille member inclined inthe direction of air flow extending upwardly from the bottom of thepassage transversely thereof in the path of feed of the peanuts, a arock trap in the passage between the baille member and the blower, thefloor of said passage extending a substantial distance on the Windwardside of the baffle, a conveyor for cleaned peanuts in the bottom of thehousing, an outlet for air and light trash in the upper part of thehousing on the side opposite the opening, and a baille extendinghorizontally across the housing from the outlet side, its free edgebeing spaced a substantial distance from the opposite side wall.

3. In a peanut cleaner, a housing, an opening across one side at thebottom of the housing, means dening an upwardly inclined passageconnected to the opening, a blower connected to the lower end of thepassage, means to feed peanuts downwardly into the passage, a bafflemember inclined in the direction of air flow extending upwardly andtransversely from the bottom of the passage and so disposed that thepeanuts are fed onto the Windward side thereof, a rock trap in thepassage between the baille member and the blower and spaced asubstantial distance from the latter, a conveyor for cleaned peanuts inthe bottom of the housing, a baille in the upper part of the housingextending from the wall thereof distant from the blower toward thefront, and an outlet for air and light trash above the baille in thewall of the housing distant from the blower.

4. In a, peanut cleaner, a cleaner housing, an adjustable inclined floorfor the housing, a conveyor for cleaned peanuts at the lower side of thehousing, means defining an upwardly inclined passage leading into thehousing over the conveyor, means to restrict the area of said passagewhere it enters the housing, means to feed a regulated supply of peanutsdownwardly into said passage, a blower to provide a blast of air throughthe passage and the housing, an adjustable baille extending transverselyof the passage inclined in the direction of air flow and so disposedbeneath the peanut feed that peanuts to be cleaned are directed againstthe Windward side thereof, a ledge on the Windward side of the bailleforming an obtuse angle therewith, a rock trap between the blower andthe bafile and spaced a substantial distance from the latter, an outletfor air and light trash in the upper rear part of the housing, and asecond baille extending partway across the housing beneath the outlet.

5. In a peanut cleaner, a substantially rectangular housing having anoutlet for air, light trash and dirt extending across one side in theupper part thereof, a baille extending horizontally partway across thehousing from the side beneath the outlet, a bottom for the housinghinged at the side beneath the outlet and sloping downwardly toward theopposite side, means for removing cleaned peanuts from the lower side ofsaid -hinged bottom, means defining an upwardly inclined passageconnected across the housing at the lower side of the sloping bottom,means to create an air blast through the passage, means to feed peanutsdownwardly into the passage, a transversely extending adjustable baillein the passage inclined in the direction of air flow and disposed forthe peanuts to fall on the Windward side thereof, a rook trap in themeans to adjust the height of the bafe in the bottom of the passagespaced from the bafe on passage, the slope of the housing floor and thethe Windward side thereof, and a ledge in the area of the opening of thepassage into the bottom of the passage at the Windward side of housing.5 the baie. NICHOLAS B. SOLOMON, JR. 5

6. Apparatus as dened in claim 5, including DANNIE M. CARTER.

